We live, simultaneously, in two different worlds. Ultimately, we live in the World of Nature, a world that we did not create and the world upon which all life depends. Most immediately, we inhabit a "human world" that we create ourselves. Because our human world is the result of our own choices and actions, we can say, quite properly, that we live, most immediately, in a “political world.” In this blog, I hope to explore the interaction of these two worlds that we call home.

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Gary A. Patton

I was an elected official in Santa Cruz County, California for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. Now, I am an environmental attorney, practicing law in Santa Cruz County. If you would like to contact me, send me an email at gapatton@mac.com.

In a column published in the Mercury News on Sunday, January 29, 2017, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson told us that we would be ill-advised to ignore the president's "verbal eruptions." This "verbal eruptions" phrase was translated by the Bay Area News Group, in its print edition headline on Robinson's column, into the word "rants." Oddly enough, as others have noted, the President's first official proclamation as President, his Inaugural Address, does seem to qualify as a "rant," in many ways.

Subsequent events confirm the validity of Robinson's cautionary suggestion that we should take the President's words very seriously. One of the President's first official actions, following up on his first official speech, was to order a closing of the borders of the United States of America to various persons who might qualify as Muslims.

As noted in a front-page article in the Sunday New York Times, the Executive Order titled, "Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States," is hardly likely to accomplish this objective. Even if forbidding entry to "Muslims" would actually be protective (the opposite is likely to be the case), The Times' story properly noted:

There was a random quality to the list of countries: It excluded Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where the founders of Al Qaeda and many other jihadist groups have originated. Also excluded are Pakistan and Afghanistan, where persistent extremism and decades of war have produced militants who have occasionally reached the United States. Notably, perhaps, the list avoided Muslim countries where Mr. Trump has major business ventures.

For those who think that we do need to be prepared to take action, to demonstrate against the actions that will clearly follow upon the President's words, it was heartening to see large and spontaneous demonstrations at airports on both the East and West Coasts that immediately followed upon the President's travel ban:

Protestors at San Francisco International Airport

Protestors at Kennedy International Airport in New York

We (the people) must be prepared to act! That is good advice, and Eugene Robinson is not the only one giving it. But let's not forget to think about the more abstract or theoretical implications of the "America First" approach.

Perhaps the very greatest thing about the United States of America has been its welcome to the world. Often rather arrogantly, the United States presumes that it "leads" or should lead the world, but whatever legitimacy that kind of claim might have comes from our willingness to have an "open door" to all those who wish to come here, and to maintain a society that discriminates not at all on the basis of race or religion. This is our proclaimed intention, however poorly executed it has been in the past, and continues to be. If we give it up, and deny our ties, of every kind, to the world at large, we will be (first, last, and always) completely and utterly alone.